每日一分钟 | 'a piece of cake'是怎么来的呢？

English in a Minute

《English in a Minute》是VOA推出的英语教学节目，每一集只有1分钟，介绍一个英语俚语。用语简单，非常适合初学者用来练习英语。

今日份的俚语是a piece of cake ，这个俚语大家都非常熟悉，意思是小菜一碟，但你知道这个词是怎么来的吗？

今日份的English in a Minute告诉你答案！

a piece of cake 来自英语挑战者 00:00 01:01

Welcome to English in a Minute.

Do you find American idioms hard to understand? It's our goal to make learning them 'a piece of cake.'

Everyone in America knows this idiom because it's so easy.

（对话开始）

A: Hey! How did you do on the exam?

B: I got an A. The exam was a piece of cake.

（对话结束）

In American English, when you say something is a 'piece of cake,' it means it is very easy to do.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, African Americans started 'cake walks.' They walked or danced around a cake in pairs, and the best couple won the cake. This is how the idioms 'cake walk' and 'piece of cake' came about -- both meaning that something is very easy to do.

And that's English in a Minute.

cake walk=a piece of cake

小菜一碟